There were many snide remarks against the recent party held for the head honcho of Public Bank, Tan Sri Teh Hong Piow!

By the way he was feted, he should be made a ‘Tun’ above all those current ‘Tuns’ who are perceived to have caused mayhem to the Malaysian society.

One of the critics was Khairy Jamaluddin who apparently tweeted that the event likened Tan Sri Teh to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.

Well, at least Tan Sri Teh accumulated his riches through a legitimate business that has grown leaps and bounds …… as compared to others who accumulated just as much riches (over a relatively shorter period) by leeching on to a politically powerful individual then ….. by marrying his daughter!

Hey, give the man a break.

Like many, he had to cultivate his network of associates and friends.

But unlike many, over a period of 45 years he has managed to sustain and expand a banking business that is so easy to abuse for one’s own selfish needs.

Look at Bank Bumiputera Malaysia ….. that had to be rescued so many times and finally gobbled up by CIMB.

What about its Hongkong arm, Bumiputera Malaysia Finance ….. which culminated in the murder of its internal auditor?

What about those ‘sweet heart’ deals of Tan Sri Rashid Hussain of RHB Bank then?

And there was the disastrous loans made by Sime Bank when power appeared to have been literally given to CEO Ismail Zakaria on a silver platter by the Sime Darby board!

Should we now be surprised with the RM3.0 billion losses incurred by Sime Darby’s oil & gas arm when again the requisite checks and balances were not practiced?

For those that did not collapse, how many of them had to be re-capitalised in order to meet the capital adequacy requirements of Bank Negara Malaysia?

So, bud off mates.

Let the 81 year old gentlemen enjoy the praises of his staff who are well rewarded based on meritocracy.